20 September
Mutton Tahari recipe or the Tehari recipe is a very traditional and age old recipe. It is a one pot meal where all the components are cooked together unlike biryani, where the yakhni and the rice is separately cooked and then layered together and put on dum. Here the yakhni is cooked first and then the raw rice is added to it and let it cook on a slow flame or dum till it is flaky and has absorbed all the juices of the yakhni. Ideally at the final stage even Tehari is put on dum, but for a quick and easy way out, you can also pressure cook it together like any pulao. You can try and make this with vegetables of your choice as well and replace the mutton. pieces.
Just like pulao or biryani every region has its own tehari recipes wherein the core process remains the same but the ingredients might differ a bit. The one that I am writing about is a recipe from East Bengal. Its an easy and quick recipe compared to mutton biryani. So when you want to have something biryani like but want to cheat on the preparation hassles this should be your go-to recipe.
It might look like a Mutton Yakhni pulao recipe but note that the signature flavor of this tehari comes from the whole green chillies we use during the dum process in this recipe. Tehari is cooked either with potatoes or without varying from region to region. I love potatoes with my biryani and Teharis; it adds a little something to incorporate with the rice when you eat, apart from the meat itself.
The most crucial aspect of a good pulao/biryani/tehari is that the meat must be double the quantity of rice used. Don't get overwhelmed by the long list of ingredients. I have segregated phase wise so that its easy to read and remember.
Marination Time : Overnight
Cooking Time : 60-65 minutesServing : 2 Adults
Ingredients for Marinating Mutton (Overnight) :
- Mutton - 500 gm
- Garlic - 1/2 tsp paste
- Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
- Curd - 2 tsp
Ingredients for Boiling Mutton:
- Black Pepper Clove - 5, bruised
- Garlic Clove - 3, bruised
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Phool Chakri/ Star Anise - 1
- Cinnamon Stick - 1/2 inch
- Black Cardamom - 1, bruised
- Green chilli - 2, slitted
- Salt as per taste
- Water - 2 to 3 cups
Ingredients for Mutton Gravy Base:
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Cardamom - 1
- Cinnamon - 1 inch
- Potato - 2 medium, halved
- Onion - 2 medium
- Garlic - 1 tsp
- Ginger - 2 inch grated or 1 tbsp paste
- Coconut Milk / Normal Milk/ Milk powder mixed in hot water - 1/4 cup
- Salt to taste
- Sugar To taste
- Ghee - 2 tbsp
- Refined oil - 3 tbsp* [Will depend on how much fat the mutton has, more fat less oil]
Ingredients for Rice:
- Rice - 250 gm
- Turmeric - 1 tsp
- Mutton Stock from boiling mutton - 500 ml
- Sugar - 3 tsp
- Salt as per taste
- Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Ingredients for Onion Beresta:
- Onion - 1 medium, sliced
Ingredients for Garnish:
- Manaka/ Raisins - 1/4th cup
- Green chilli - 3-4
Method:
1. Marinate the mutton overnight with mentioned ingredients
2. Thaw the mutton for 15 minutes before boiling. Now in a pressure cooker add everything and cook the mutton till tender [depends on mutton quality. I took about 9 whistles]. Let the mutton sit for a while till the steam is off. Now drain the stock and keep it aside, we will use it while cooking rice.
Tip: The traditional recipe is made by cooking the mutton on dum for more delicate flavors. But I am hereby using pressure cooking method to reduce the time by half. The taste at the end is very much same, because post boiling we will be cooking the mutton with the spices and masala.
3. Make a paste of one onion and slice one onion. Halve the potatoes with skin on.
4. Wash the rice and soak it in turmeric water for about 15- 20 minutes.
Tip: I added turmeric to the water to only give the rice a mild yellow color and not the mutton. You can simply soak it in plain water if you do not want a yellow hue.
Tip 2: If you do not have basmati handy, like me then you can use a trick method. Add any other fragrant rice with normal rice, like here I added half and half of Kolam and Indryani rice to have an aromatic effect even without basmati. I didnt fully use Indryani because its a sticky type of rice which would have made the whole pulav mushy.
5. In a heavy bottom kadai, add the oil and ghee. When the ghee is fragrant add 1 bay leaf, bruised cardamom and cinnamon. Add the onion paste and a pinch of salt. Cook on medium heat till the onion starts changing color. Now add the sliced onion. Also add the halved potatoes. Fry it till both the onions and potato are half cooked, occasionally stirring.
Tip: If you want you can cook the entire thing in ghee which will give more robust flavors. But I have done half and half of ghee and oil.
6. Remove the potato from the kadai, the rest of it we will cook along with rice.
7. Now add grated ginger, bruised garlic and fold in. Fry for about 2 -3 minute to let it incorporate. Take care so that the masala doesn't stick to the bottom of the kadai.
8. Now add the boiled mutton along with the spices used to boil it. Fold in. Now we need to cook on high heat. So make very sure that you are constantly folding in everything in the kadai, else it might burn. Cook the mutton with the masala till oil separates, about 15-20 minutes. Take it off heat.
2. Thaw the mutton for 15 minutes before boiling. Now in a pressure cooker add everything and cook the mutton till tender [depends on mutton quality. I took about 9 whistles]. Let the mutton sit for a while till the steam is off. Now drain the stock and keep it aside, we will use it while cooking rice.
Tip: The traditional recipe is made by cooking the mutton on dum for more delicate flavors. But I am hereby using pressure cooking method to reduce the time by half. The taste at the end is very much same, because post boiling we will be cooking the mutton with the spices and masala.
3. Make a paste of one onion and slice one onion. Halve the potatoes with skin on.
4. Wash the rice and soak it in turmeric water for about 15- 20 minutes.
Tip: I added turmeric to the water to only give the rice a mild yellow color and not the mutton. You can simply soak it in plain water if you do not want a yellow hue.
Tip 2: If you do not have basmati handy, like me then you can use a trick method. Add any other fragrant rice with normal rice, like here I added half and half of Kolam and Indryani rice to have an aromatic effect even without basmati. I didnt fully use Indryani because its a sticky type of rice which would have made the whole pulav mushy.
5. In a heavy bottom kadai, add the oil and ghee. When the ghee is fragrant add 1 bay leaf, bruised cardamom and cinnamon. Add the onion paste and a pinch of salt. Cook on medium heat till the onion starts changing color. Now add the sliced onion. Also add the halved potatoes. Fry it till both the onions and potato are half cooked, occasionally stirring.
Tip: If you want you can cook the entire thing in ghee which will give more robust flavors. But I have done half and half of ghee and oil.
6. Remove the potato from the kadai, the rest of it we will cook along with rice.
7. Now add grated ginger, bruised garlic and fold in. Fry for about 2 -3 minute to let it incorporate. Take care so that the masala doesn't stick to the bottom of the kadai.
8. Now add the boiled mutton along with the spices used to boil it. Fold in. Now we need to cook on high heat. So make very sure that you are constantly folding in everything in the kadai, else it might burn. Cook the mutton with the masala till oil separates, about 15-20 minutes. Take it off heat.
9. Now in a separate kadai, add 1 tsp of ghee and let it become fragrant. Add the turmeric hued rice and on low flame fold in slowly. Keep tossing for a couple of minutes till they get a nice sheen, make sure to not break the rice in this process.
Tip: Frying the rice lightly will ensure the Tehari wont turn out mushy.
10. Now put the kadai with cooked mutton on the heat again. Measure double the amount of mutton stock to rice quantity and add to the mutton masala. Add the coconut milk at this stage. If you do not have coconut milk use normal milk or just make a mix of milk powder and warm water and add to the mutton. Let it come to a soft boil.
Tip: Adding coconut milk gives a nice rich texture. If you do not have fresh coconut milk, use the coconut milk powder and mix it in water and add.
11. Now add the lightly fried rice and carefully fold in everything. Adjust sugar and salt levels. Add the garam masala powder and give it a stir. Now let this cook on medium heat with lid on for about 5-6 minutes or till rice is 2/3 done.
Note: Bengali Polao or Tehari are usually made a little sweet. But you can adjust the sweetness as per taste.
Note: Bengali Polao or Tehari are usually made a little sweet. But you can adjust the sweetness as per taste.
12. Now keep a tawa below the kadai and lower the heat to minimum. We will keep the Tehari to cook to perfection on dum (slow heat cooking method). Open the lid and shove the fried potatoes inside the rice, sprinkle the manaka or raisin on top. Add a few slitted green chillies. If you have saffron you can soak it in some milk and add it at this stage. Now cover the lid and keep it on dum for 15 minutes. The lid should be tightly closed and if there are any steam passages they should be closed with tissue or anything suitable.
Tip: The tawa will evenly distribute the heat and not let the rice or mutton stick to the kadai while being cooked on dum.
Tip 2: You can seal the edges with whole wheat flour dough, or you can also cover the mouth of the pot with aluminum foil and then put the lid on.
13. Post the 15 minutes. Let the kadai sit like that undisturbed till you are ready to serve. Minimum 15 more minutes. The rice will cook to perfection after this time.
14. While the Tehari is cooking, take a wok and add oil/ ghee. Make onion juliennes and fry them in the wok with a pinch of salt and sugar till browned and crispy.
15. Garnish the tehari with a generous layer of beresta. Serve it hot with salad and raita of your choice.
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